Coupling



y 1950 s. F. M KEAGE, JR 2,516,472

COUPLING Filed Nov. 30, 1946 Patented July 25, 1950 .ooUeLiNG BenFaMacKeagaJn,WesttBridgewaterpI al ApplicationlNoveinber so, 1946; serial No."'ll, ;66

' 5 Glaims.

This-invention relatesito a coupling, andmore specifically, to a coupling'that is particularly use- 111 for joining a propeller shaft to adrive shaft on ships and other craft. An outstanding objection to .most common types of marine couplin'gsnsed on craft is that they are relatively; complicated in. construction and cumbersome; furthermore, many of these have the additional disadvantage that the driven or propeller shaftv has radially extending parts integral therewith or bolted thereon, making it relatively difficult or impossible to dismantle these parts whenever it is necessary to make. propeller shaft repairabecause in such instances, duefto the close fitof the propeller shaftand encircling stationary tube or'housing, it is necessary to dismantle any parts that .project radially outwardly beyond thev diameter of the propeller shaft An objectof thepresent invention islto provide a relatively simple and inexpensivecoupling .especially useful in propeller drivesfor marine use in vessels and the like, and which is devoid of the aboveementioned disadvantageainasmuch .as it is of a design so that the. propeller shaft. can be readily slipped through the stationary tube which closely surroundsit. so as to pull the pro.- peller away from a ship without disconnecting any parts from the coupled endofthepropeller shaft whenever repairs of the propeller arenecese sary.

A morespecific object of this. invention is to provide a .novel coupling between a drive shaft and a driven shaft, whichincludes substantially a truncated hollow cone split in a longitudinal direction with keys between the. two. cone halves for keying the shafts together, which coupling members may be readily slipped into place or removed with a minimum effort and wherein the driven shaft has no radially extending parts extending from the coupling end thereof.

. Qtherobjectsand advantages: of the present invention will become apparentzfrom arstudy :of the following. specification. taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig; his a plan view with parts shown broken away and in-cross-section ofa' coupling embodying the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lineII-"II of Fig. 1, and.

Fig. 3 is an exploded'v'iewofthecoupling shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring more particularly to the figures, numeral l denotes a drive shaft which may be driven by a Diesel engine or any other source of motive power, which drive shaft has a raend i of the slipped or fitted the driven or-propeller shaft 4 which =may be connected to the ship- (not shown).-

A ring having a plurality of holes *6 disposed adjacent the periphery thereof encircles' -driven shaft land is-bolted'to flange 2 by *means'of a plurality of bolts-such" as -'l;'whic'h extend-"through registering holes of ring 5 and flange 2 "The internal bore of ring 5; instead of beingfcylindri cal is frusto-conical shaped so that 'the re may be fitted snugly therein a pair of coupling elements' 9 and Hlf-which'comprise essentially a truncated hollow cone split in a longitudinal direction. More'accuratelyspeaking; however, elements 'Q'and I0, each have a perimeter'jwhich isslightly lessthanhalfthe'perimeter of a complete cone or circle by the amount indicated-"by the gap between these parts, shown more clearly in*Fig.'-3Z The two ga'ps'between elements 9 and lfl'arefcompleted or'bridged by means'of wedgeshapedykeys H and'lz whose thickness added to the perimeterof elements 9 and lfllmakejup a complete truncated cone.

Radially-extendin grooves I3 and ld arelprovidedy'on diametrically opposite portions near'the end of; driven shaft 4, as shown more .clearly in Fig; '3; into which may be slipped keys I I. and

propeller of a I2; as shown in dotted lines at the top of Fig. 3,

for anchoring the.'straig ht 'side of wedges H and I2tol driven shaft 4; Thetapered edges of keys H and H are fitted intofgrooves'ldand l6 of ring '5, andyare thereby anchored thereto. The inner hollow cylindrical surface .of' elements :9 and!!! closely 'fit about an end portion 4d of reduced diameter of shaft 4', as shown more clearly in- Fig 1. The outer frusto-conical surfaces thereof closely fit the corresponding surfaces of ring 5lso,that, together with keys. Hand [2, elements. 9 and it completely close the space. between. rin'gi andlthe'portion 4a of reduced. di: ameter. Hence it willb'e seen that there will be no voids in the coupling member'a'ndi there will be a continuou's bearing surfacebetween' the drivingand (driven parts of' the, couplingso as to transmittorques.ofj suhstantial value.

Aside from the .r ct that the above-described couplin transmits relatively highltO fquesllan outstanding feature of the coupling is that. the driven or propeller shaft 4 has no radially out wardly extending parts formed thereon or otherwise fastened that would require an appreciable time period for uncoupling in the event that the propeller secured to shaft 4 required repairs. As is well-known in propeller drives on ships and other craft, a conventional design is to provide a hollow stationary tube or housing closely fitted about the propeller shaft 4 which extends through a substantial portion of the length of the propeller shaft. Hence, when it is necessary to make repairs of a damaged propeller, it is required that the propeller shaft be uncoupled and pulled throughthe tube in the direction of v the propeller, that is, towardsthe rear of the'ship, so as to move the propeller away from the ship.

Obviously, if radially extending parts are pro vided on shaft 4, this cannot be done, since such parts will interfere with the closely fitting sta-' ameter throughout and has merely'apo'rtion of tionary tube. However, in the: coupling described 1 herein, the propeller shaft l is of constant di- 3. A coupling comprising a drive shaft having an end flange and a pocket formed centrally of said end flange, a driven shaft having an end fitted into said pocket, thereby positioning said shaft in coaxial relationship, a ring encircling said end of said driven shaft and being bolted to said flange, said ring having a frusto-conical bore and two diametrically opposite, radially extending grooves, said end of the driven shaft also; having diametrically opposite, radially extending grooves, a pairof wedge-shaped keys having opposite edges thereof fitted into said two pairs of grooves for keying said driven shaft to said ring, and a pair of coupling elements filling the remaining space in said frusto-conical bore and between which said keys are sandwiched, each coupling element having a circumferential extent-slightly less" than half a circle by an reduced diameter 4a so as to readily enable coue pling or uncoupling whenever desired by placing or removing, respectively, elements Sand I0 and keys H and 12, which involves aminimuin of effort,

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an efficient, relatively simple and inexpensive coupling involving a minimum number of simple partsv which enable the transmission of substantial torques and which coupling is particularly useful for couplingthe drive shaft to the propeller shaft on a ship or other craft, although it should be understood that such coupling may be used for mechanical drives other than on ships and the like.

While I have illustrated and described certain specific embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only and that various changes and modifications maybe made within the contemplationbf my invention and within the scope of the following claims.

f I claim:

"Q l. A coupling comprising a driving shaft and a driven shaft disposed in coaxial relationship, said driven shaft having a radial slot adjacent the end thereof, a wedge-shaped key fitted into said slot, 2. ring surrounding, said slot and rigidly fastened to said driving shaft, said ring having aJfrusto-conical bore and a slot into which said key. is fitted, and a longitudinally split, hollow, truncated cone fitted into said frustd-conical bore in said ring, the two halves of said cone 'being bridged by said key.

2-. A coupling comprising a drive shaft having anend flange and a pocket'formed centrally of said end jflange, a driven shaft having an end fitted into said pocket, thereby positioning said shaft incoaxial'relationship, a ring encircling said end of said driven shaft and being bolted to said flange, said ring having a frusto-conical bore and two diametrically opposite, radially extendinggrooves, said end of the driven shaft also having diametrically opposite, radially extending grooves, a pair of wedge-shaped keys having opposite edges thereof fitted into said two pairs of grooves for keying said driven shaft to said ring, and a pair of coupling elements filling the remaining space in said frusto-conical bore and between which said keys are sandwiched, each coupling element having a circumferential extent slightly less than half a circle by an amount equal to the thickness of one of said keys;

amountequal to the thickness of one of said keys, said driven shaft having a cylindrical end portion of reduced diameter, onto which said coupling elements are closelyfitted.

4 Aco'upling comprising a, drive shaft having an end flange, a'driven shaft having an annular groove, a split ring formed of ,at'least two sec- "tions' receivable in said, groove and "interlocked with said' 'driven shaft against axial movement thereonfsaid' split ring providing a boss having a frusto-coiiical shape with'it's base in engagement with said flange, a coupling member having a fru'sto-conicalbore bolted to said flange "with; the surface of said bore in engagement with the outer surface of said boss, the engagement of said boss with said flange and bore being effective to prevent'axial movement of said boss with respect to said drive shaft, and'keyi'ng elements cooperating withsaid boss and with said drive and driven-shafts to provide an operative torque transmitting connection between said coupling member; andsaid Tdrive'n shaft whereby said shafts are'constrained'to rotat'ewith each other.

5 A coupling comprisingadrive shaft, a driven shaft having an annular groove, a split ring formed of fa t'least two sections receivable in said groove andfinterlocke'd with said driven shaft jprovidinga boss projecting outwardly from the sur'faceof said driven shaft, a coupling member connected to said 'drive shaft and" engageable with said 'bossto preventa'xial movement of said boss with respect to said, drive shaft, and keyingelemen'ts cooperating fwiths'aid boss and with said drive and driven shafts to provide an'operative torque transmitting'conne'ction between said coupling memberan'd said driven shaft whereby said shafts'are constrained to against axial fmovement thereon, said split ring rotate with each other. 7 g e BEN F. MACKEAGE, JR.

. B T R MESIC ED rn'Ihe following references areofrecord in the file of this patent: x

' UNITED- sr 'rEs PATEN'rs'" Number ,Name v V Date 939,744 Richardson Nov. 9, i909 v FOREIGNPATENTS Number confirm 1 Date .fi ea B a. 8, 1905 

